Feathers That Dance
by contagiously funny
Summary: A small raven is found and raised by the serpiente dancers. Years later, she realizes how much Oliza needs her to bring both worlds, serpiente and avian, together. Rating for later chapters.
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer**: I don't own the original characters…..:sob:

**_In the first days of Wyvern's Court, the avian and serpiente people approached their new homes with an uneasy silence. It would be weeks before anyone expected the two to even speak to one another. With that in mind, most knew that it would be years before the avians and serpiente were comfortable being so close to each other. As a result, many expected Wyvern's Court to fail_**

_**The avian people reached their homes, all wanting a place as far from the serpiente as possible. At the same time, the serpiente tried to make their new homes comfortable, all of them also trying to acquire a place as far from their former enemiesas possible. The heir to the two thrones, Oliza, had her work cut out for her.**_

**_However, like in all stories, there are people who are more accepting of others. These are the type of people who are willing to try something new, and wish to make the best of things. One such person, a raven named Myra, approached the market against the wishes of her alistair, a crow. Needless to say, the serpiente were quite astonished to see an avian among them. After a few moments, they greeted her cautiously, and after a few days, enthusiastically. She became a friend to the dancers, for her lovely voice added to their beautiful movements. She and A'isha, leader of the dancers, became a duo where they combined A'isha's dance with Myra's song._**

**_A year later, she had a child. This child did not, however, belong to her alistair. While in the market, she had met another raven trying to make the best of the Wyvern's Court. She introduced him to her friends in the Nest and taught him a few dances. Two months later, she was with child. Ashamed, she hid the pregnancy and gave birth in the Nest. A few days later, she left, taking the child with her. No one saw her after that._**

**_The day that the royal family came to Wyvern's Court, there was a commotion. The two royal cousins, Salem and Oliza, ran through the market to hide from their parents. For the next hew hours, the market was in an uproar. It wasn't until after the child, Nicias, found them that things began to quiet down. With people so concerned with finding the royal children, no one noticed the little raven, about three-years-old, crying for her mother. As the dancer, A'isha, helped a merchant reorganize his wares, she heard the little raven's sobs. One look at her, and the dancer knew who she must be, for the child looked exactly like a younger version of her mother. The child's real family refused to admit any relation to the girl, so the dancers offered to take her in, making her the first avian to be raised completely serpiente. They named her Calandra, meaning "singing bird"._**


	2. Rude Awakening

"Pst."

"PST!"

"Shush! Are you trying to wake the whole nest!" came a furious whisper.

"Well, it's not my fault she sleeps like a rock." was the grumbled reply.

The voices belonged to two of the serpiente dancers. They both stared at their sleeping friend, not knowing how to wake her without disturbing the others. Gently, they shook one of her shoulders; then a little less gently when she still refused to wake. Carefully, the first dancer reached behind the girl's head to where the feathers and hair met, and yanked on a feather. The other dancer quickly put a hand over her mouth to muffle the shriek. The rest of the nest simply murmured in their sleep, or shifted slightly.

Seventeen-year-old Calandra, the formerly sleeping avian, glared from her spot on the floor at her two friends. It was impossible for her to get up at the moment, for she had at least three other sleepers resting against her. She looked around, noticing how dark it still was.

"What time is it?" she hissed angrily.

"Just a little before dawn." was the giggling reply. Calandra groaned and laid her head back down. She was famous for her ability to sleep well past dawn, sometimes into the late morning. She closed her eyes, thinking that maybe they would just go away.

"Hey. Don't fall back asleep!" a voice, Rasha, whispered.

"Go away."

"No, we need your help with something."

"No. Sleep."

"Get up, or I'll pull another feather!" the other voice, Taima, murmured urgently.

"Why?"

"It's the only way to get you up."

"No, why do I have to get up at all?"

"I don't know, you'll have to ask Salem. He told us to get you."

"Tell him it can wait till the sun actually rises." Calandra answered with a yawn, trying to go back to sleep.

"He said it has to be done before it's light out." Rasha responded matter-of-factly.

"Then he's doing something he shouldn't, and I'll get in trouble ag--ow!" Calandra sat up, glaring and rubbing the back of her head.

"Get up, Cala, and let's go!" said Taima. Calandra carefully extracted herself from the pile of sleepers, once again cursing herself for not making lazy friends. She tied her long black hair into a ponytail before stretching, and finally rising to leave. Her limbs felt like they weighed a ton and she moved rather slowly. Rasha handed her a funny-smelling drink, saying it would help her to wake up. Cala gasped at how cold the drink was, and figured it was more the temperature, not the ingredients that woke people. She then changed into her raven form and rode on Taima's shoulder until they got to wherever their destination was.

Cala opened her eyes once she felt the other girls stop moving. She then saw two more figures detach themselves from the shadows and come toward them. Salem and Kiran. Calandra leapt off of Taima's shoulder and changed back into her human form, glaring at Salem.

"What is so important that I'm not allowed a few hours of beauty sleep!" she snapped angrily. Salem, knowing her early-morning mood, simply smiled at her.

"Good morning to you too, oh-feathered-friend-of-mine." he answered, casually throwing an arm around her shoulders. "We are in desperate need of your great avian abilities." he finished with a smile. Cala glowered up at him.

"Why? Did your mother put the cookie jar up too high?" she snapped. She was in no mood for joking.

"Well, yes, now that you mention it. But that's not why we're here. Remember that old lady in the market today?" He asked, suddenly serious. Cala nodded, how could she forget? The old crow had seen her dancing on a dais in her demi-form. As she came down the steps, the old lady had began berating her, demanding to know where her alistair was. After replying that she had none, the lady demanded in a much louder voice, to know where her parents were. When Cala pointed to A'isha, claiming the dancers had raised her, the old lady left abruptly, refusing to look at her. Lacking the avian reserve, she wasn't able to hide the hurt expression. It had taken Salem and Kiran an hour to make her laugh again. Now, they were outside the old crow's home. A slow smile dawned on the young raven's face.


	3. Moonlight Mischief

After conferring for a few minutes, Calandra changed into her demi-form and leapt into the air to soar up toward the largest window in the old crow's house. She lightly landed on the ledge, which was just large enough for her feet to balance on. The raven then peered inside, using the moonlight to see. Luckily the crow, like most avians, had left the shutters open, thinking that only the wind could enter through them. After one last glance, she flew back to her waiting friends. One-by-one, Cal lifted them into the house while they were in their snake form and let them slide into through the window.

Calandra waited by the window as they inspected the whole place, checking to see where the sleeping avians were. Once they came back and reported, Cal brought two of them, Rasha and Kiran, back to get the necessary supplies. Taima and Salem each went into a different room, while Calandra went straight for the offending crow's room. First, she took all of the clothes out of the closet as she kept one eye on the sleeping victim. Next, she emptied all of the perfumes and scented items of their contents. She then flew down to Rasha and took the items handed to her. It was clothes. More importantly, it was serpiente clothes. After grabbing all of the clothing, she tiredly flew back. The large amount of clothing weighed a _ton_. She distributed the clothing evenly between her, Salem, and Rasha. Cal went back to the same room. After replacing the avian clothing with serpiente, she proceeded to replace the avian perfumes with serpiente perfumes, and did the same to all of the scented objects. She met back with Salem and Rasha as they finished replacing the modest avian art with the less-modest serpiente art. Cal made sure to hang a large painting of two dancers performing a sacred dance on the wall opposite the crow's bed, so it would be the first thing she saw when she woke up. The raven then carefully flew her serpent friends back to the ground and returned to the window, for onw last look. The room, and the rest of the house, resembled a serpiente home instead of a "proper" avian household. With a small smile, Cal flew back to her friends.

"Well?" Rasha demanded.

"How's it look?" Kiran asked as Cal changed back into her human form. Calandra's smile grew.

"They'll be completely disgusted." she answered gleefully, trying to ignore her protesting muscles and tired eyes. Before the others could object, saying that serpiente style wasn't disgusting, she stumbled. Cal's eyes had drooped closed for a moment, in which time her feet had tried to move and stand still at the same time. The result was that she almost ended up with a faceful of dirt and grass if Salem hadn't been quick enough to catch her.

"Sor--"she was interrupted by a yawn and tried to continue, "Sorry." was all she could mumble. Her head felt like it weighed two tons, and she couldn't even feel her arms and legs anymore. Her friends looked at her knowingly. Without a word, Salem scooped her up, prepared to carry her back to the nest for some much needed sleep. They, especially he, was used her random swings of energy and exhaustion when she was woken up too soon. The sun had just touched the horizon as they reached the nest. Gently, they placed her on the ground and then laid down next to her, forming another sleeping group. Cal shifted even closer to the nearest person, trying to get comfortable. Salem smiled as he became her pillow. _Having feathers doesn't make one an avian_ he thought sleepily.

**Ok, I know this was short, but oh well. Please R and R! I don't know if anyone likes this story if no one reviews. Constructive critiscism appreciated!**


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